After following the first Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition (One thousand miles in one hundred days), Ranger Pam Darty says she was thrilled to be invited to ride bikes with these conservation heroes on a January Wednesday in 44 degree weather. All of them being Florida natives, they nearly froze. The next day, Pam met them on the Dixie Mainline and drove them for a picturesque walk along Shired island. She has been a huge fan of Carlton Ward Jr's for a long time; she greatly enjoyed finally meeting him. Later in the day, Friends members and others hosted a bar-b-q reception in Suwannee for the expedition members.
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Join friends and neighbors at a barbeque dinner starting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan 29th , at the Suwannee Community Center to meet the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition Team and watch an exciting movie from last year’s 1,000-mile adventure. Guests are encouraged to bring a side dish.
Our next nature walk will be at the Cedar Key Scrub at 9am on 3 February. It will be a two hour walk on a sandy trail and we will be observing scrub trees and plants and any wildlife we happen upon! If you are interested in joining along, we will meet at the Cedar Key Scrub entrance on Hwy 24. Those interested in carpooling from Cedar Key can meet me, Donna Thalacker, at the town park parking lot at 8:45am. I hope to see you then.
The Friends of the Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge partnered with the Cedar Key Arts Center this year to sponsor a new mural featuring the 2015 Old Florida Celebration of the Arts design contest theme, “Seeing the Art in Nature.” The artwork invites visitors to experience nature’s artwork in the wildlife refuges surrounding Cedar Key.
Local artist, Travis Parks, designed and painted this mural with the hope of “inspiring people to get out and enjoy all the beauty around us.” The peaceful openness of the refuges waterways and flats are contrasted against the quiet darkness of the scrub. As you look closely you can see a kayaker off in the distance and a hiker leaving the forested area, all overseen by a Great White Heron and a three “painted” turtles. Thanks also goes to Stoney Smith of Hudson Foods, Inc. who supported the project by making the northeast wall of the “gas station” Jiffy available for the project. A dedication plaque commemorating the 51st Annual Spring Arts Festival was installed on Monday, January 19. More information about the festival which will be on March 28 & 29 this year can be found on the festival website at www.CedarKeyArtsFestival.com. Submitted by Bev Ringenberg ![]() The Refuge’s River Trail is a great place to take a nature walk. The walk started at headquarters, where the ten of us took a few minutes to look at the dormant butterfly garden. From there John and Donna Thalacker led Sally Beveridge, Charley and Patty from New Hampshire, Nancy Salamon, Siri from Maine, Peg and Russ Hall and Bev Ringgenberg to see Gopher Tortoise burrows, the newly remodeled bat house, where we stopped to listen to the bats, and then on to the River Trail. In a little over a mile, nature walkers can see Gopher Tortoise dry sandy habitat and live oaks for excellent bird watching, walk across a freshwater swamp that has many of the trees and plants identified and labeled, stand out over the Suwannee River for a chance to see Gulf Sturgeons jump, and then along a sandy trail with well marked upland plants and trees already identified. The River Trail really is a premium trail to walk! Soon the River Trail will begin to show lots of color as the Red Maple trees bloom and the Butterweeds border the trail with their bright yellow flowers. Many thanks to Peg Hall and Barbara Woodmansee for their picture contributions. We were able to get some really good close-up looks at Black-and-White Warblers and Pine Warblers, but not good enough to capture a picture from my click-and-shot camera. Thanks, Barbara Woodmansee, for the excellent warbler picture! |
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